


everything stays

by only_by_the_stars



Series: Tales of the Wild [4]
Category: Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon & Comics), The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Alternate Universe - Over the Garden Wall Fusion, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29202360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/only_by_the_stars/pseuds/only_by_the_stars
Summary: sometimes what we need, is right where we left it.
Relationships: Midna/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Tales of the Wild [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2110299
Comments: 11
Kudos: 12





	everything stays

A solitary figure walks through the wintry woods, feet keeping carefully to the well-worn path. Impossibly tall, impossibly elegant, seemingly cloaked in evening's shadow woven into fabric, she appears almost to glide over the snow covered ground. Moving with the unerring confidence of one who knows her way by heart, she keeps going towards her goal. 

And then pauses.

"This is so _fucking_ annoying, I forgot how long it takes to _walk_ everywhere..." 

Balancing on one foot, Midna lifts the other so that she can massage it with her free hand. Her other arm bears the weight of a basket filled with various things, so she has to be careful not to tip its contents onto the ground. As she takes a turn massaging her other foot, she turns a weary, frustrated gaze heavenward. “You couldn't let me keep the ability to _fly?_ Cause that was the only good part of being transformed into a little beast.”

No answer. Of course, she doesn't expect one. Midna shakes her head, at least as much out of resignation as it is to knock some stray snowflakes off her hood, and keeps going. It's only been a little over a week since she regained her true form, and she's still readjusting to it after months of being an imp. Remembering her size and not to bump into everything is one of the bigger challenges, along with having to walk everywhere now that she can no longer zip around like a gnat determined to bother everyone she comes across. The soreness in her feet right now is a solid testament to how much she relied on her flying abilities during those months.

She wonders idly how Link and Aryll have been doing since they left. Did that sweet idiot ever confess his love to the Zora girl he was pining for? Has it resulted in happiness for the two of them? Midna hopes so. Link went through more than enough here—some of it by her own hands—and deserves a happy ending back home. She's uncomfortably aware that she'll likely never know, and can never truly make up to them all that she did wrong, so hoping and praying is all she has, even if she's never been big on prayer. She'll make an effort, for her friends' sake.

Eventually she sees it: the gap in the trees that signifies her arrival at her destination. Midna sighs in relief. Not much further to go. The little flurries that swirl around her aren't too bad to deal with, but she'd rather be inside all the same, even if it's with _him_ for company. Especially if the flurries build into a bigger snowfall. It's never been her favorite weather anyway, but now it reminds her mainly of frantically searching for Aryll, of pulling Link out of icy water, of seeing that adorable little girl trapped in dekuwood and encountering the Beast. Nothing she particularly wants to dwell on, in other words.

As she walks through the clearing to the little cottage, she notices something and halts. There's a light on in the window, and smoke curling up from the chimney. _Huh_. If Rhoam can be up and about enough to do all that, maybe her presence here isn't necessary anymore. Midna hesitates. She glances down at the basket she carries, and then back up at the house. It's cold out here, so cold, and she just wants to be warm and indoors. The thought of walking all the way back to her own home makes her legs ache just thinking of it. Yet, might it not be worth it to avoid spending more awkward time with the old man? She sighs. It chafes at her to have had to delay getting back to her search, but she can't just leave him to fend for himself either. Even if Zelda would forgive her, her own conscience won't. Still, if he's recovered, she can begin making preparations to head out again.

Debating her course of action, she misses seeing the shadowy figure in the window and how it rushes out of sight after a moment's pause. Midna turns her back on the house, all but ready to journey back to where she can be warm, dry, and perhaps most importantly, alone. She doesn't particularly _like_ keeping her own company, not when there's no distraction from unpleasant thoughts, but it's a little better than having to make small talk with Rhoam.

The door opens, though the sound is drowned out by that of Midna's foot crunching in the snow. The voice that speaks with trembling disbelief isn't. “Midna?”

_… It can't be..._

Midna turns slowly, barely breathing. Certain that this is a hallucination, brought on by the cold. But there she is framed in the doorway, a heart-stoppingly beautiful vision in violet. “Zelda...?”

“Oh, you're here! You're really here!” Zelda clasps a hand to her heart, her eyes seeming to shimmer with tears. “Father said you'd be coming by, I was hoping—”

“ _What the hell are you doing here?_ ” Zelda stops halfway as the shriek rips out of Midna, her eyes widening. “You've—for _months_ you were—and I—how can you just _vanish_ like that and then come back and—as if nothing ever—ever—”

The basket slips out of Midna's grasp, and she falls beside it, crumbling to her knees with her hands pressed over her mouth. In an instant Zelda resumes running forward, kneeling beside her in the snow and wrapping an arm around Midna's shaking shoulders. “Midna, I... I...”

“What _is_ it with you people?” Her vision blurs with tears she doesn't bother trying to hold back. “How can you all just... come up to me after these horrible earth-shattering things happen and act so casually? Or am I the one who's nuts?”

“What?” Zelda's brow knits with a frown. “Midna, you're not making any sense...”

“ _I'm_ not?” Midna lifts her head, a wild look in her eyes that Zelda almost cowers from. “ _Me?_ How about _you?_ You, the one who just—just _disappeared_ without a word, without a note, without saying _anything_ , and now I'm supposed to accept that you just _wandered back all of a sudden like it's no big deal?_ ”

“It's not like that, I swear!” Zelda shakes her head, eyes wide and pleading. “I didn't mean to be gone so long, I promise I didn't! I would never do that to you, you know I—”

Midna silences her with a kiss so forceful that Zelda nearly topples backwards; she only maintains her balance because the two are clinging to each other so tightly. Zelda smells like wood smoke and freshly baked bread, like _home_ , and her lips taste of honey. _Did they always?_ Midna wonders at the back of her mind. _Or has it been so long I forgot?_ She pulls her up against her, threading her fingers through Zelda's long brown hair, and the heat that flares up between them seems like it should be enough to melt the snow around them. Their tongues meet, slipping through parted lips, and Midna can feel Zelda's heart pounding. Zelda's hands are at her waist, and they slide upwards to cup her breasts, sending a shudder through both of them. Midna's hand tightens on Zelda's hip, and Zelda moans into her mouth, but Midna can't, she _can't_ —a sob breaks free and she pulls back, the kiss ending as abruptly as it began as she dissolves into tears again.

Zelda holds her as she cries into her hands, pulling back her hood so she can stroke her hair. “Come on,” she murmurs after a minute or two, still sounding breathless from the kiss. “Let's get you inside, where it's warm... I've got the kettle on and I'll tell you what happened to me.”

Midna manages a half-laugh, half-sob. “You fucking _better._ ”

“I will.” Zelda presses a quick kiss to Midna's temple, right beside her eye. “Once we're out of the cold.”

The two stand and, after retrieving the basket, head inside to the promise of warmth, tea, and answers.

* * *

_A clock ticks steadily on the mantelpiece, reminding Zelda of how late the hour truly is. In the fireplace below, the flames sputter and flicker, struggling to remain ablaze. The book in her lap has long since been abandoned, her mind focused on one single thought at the expense of all else. Her gaze shifts from fire to darkened window, from window to fire and back again, and then to the door that leads to the hall. At the end of that hall is her father's room, where he sleeps soundly. Unaware of all that runs through her mind._

_Today he was meant to have chopped firewood, to bolster their supply. But he has already been feeling unwell for the past few days, and when combined with the rain stiffening his aged joints it was enough to keep him abed all day. And now there is so little wood left after a long winter, that Zelda fears the fire will not last the night unless she does something. The rain has been over for several hours now, and she knows of some trees in the nearby forest that are resistant enough to water that they may be safe to burn in here. Her father and Midna both have warned her against walking alone in the woods at night, but the circumstances leave her no choice._

_Decision made, she sets her book aside and stands. She gathers kindling first, arranging it carefully beside the fireplace before wrapping her cloak around herself and fetching her sword. Her father's ax would be better suited to such a task, but it's so heavy that it's probably better to stick with the blade she's comfortable with. A small lantern is the last item she will allow herself, and so armed she sets off into the night._

_It's cold outside, the air thick with petrichor, and Zelda shivers under her cloak. Winter does not wish to release its grasp on the land, evidently, and it seems certain that this will be a chilly spring. A prospect she does not relish, as she yearns for warmer weather and the chance to smell grass and pick flowers. Surprising Midna with the first flower of spring has always held a special joy for her. She glances back at the house once, at the thin smoke unfurling itself above the chimney, before advancing into the forest with lantern held high. The night is deceptively quiet as she passes through, all the creatures of evening asleep or elsewhere or hiding. Perhaps from the rain that fell so heavily earlier._

_Later she will recognize it as a warning she should have heeded._

_For now, though, she thinks little of it. Zelda searches, straining her eyes in the dark, for the right trees to burn. At last she spies one she doesn't remember ever noticing before, with wood that almost seems to take on a pinkish hue in some spots in the light of the lantern. She's never seen one like this before, and isn't sure it's quite what she's looking for. Still, it cannot hurt to try. Setting down her lantern, she begins to hack away at a twisting branch that seems almost to beckon to her, its gnarled twigs resembling fingers._

_But there's something wrong. Her blade passes far too easily through it, as though it were flesh and not bark, and Zelda recoils just in time. Had she moved but a second later, her clothing would now be stained by the black oil that oozes from the cut like blood. She frowns at the strange sight. This doesn't look like tree sap. What could it possibly—_

_“Good evening, little Zelda.”_

_Zelda freezes, heart beating erratically as she looks up, searching for the source of the voice. The darkness beyond the odd tree seems to quiver as an enormous tusked figure, itself composed of shadows, takes form and separates itself. Eyes like coals burn in the gloom, and a mouth opens, sending steamy breath wisping out. “Have you come to sing me a lullaby?”_

_“You...” Zelda snatches up her lantern. The being lurking nearby has one as well, much bigger than hers, and the eerie flame that dances inside makes her feel ill when she looks at it. “I would never... not for you...”_

_“But I have listened to your sweet singing more often than you know.” The creature advances, and Zelda stumbles backwards. “What is one more, and on such a night, no less?”_

_“Stay back!” She points her sword at him, proud that it only shakes a little. “I have no songs to sing for a foul beast such as you! Begone!”_

_“You have entered_ my _forest, and tried to take wood from one of_ my _trees, and you tell_ me _to be off with myself? Interesting.” The Beast laughs. “It is a bold girl indeed who dares to speak so.”_

_“I don't want any trouble.” She backs away. “I will be off to my home now, and you—”_

_“Why so hasty?” He laughs again. “Why not hear what I have to say?”_

_“Nothing you could say would ever interest me.” Zelda shakes her head. “All I want is to go home and take care of my father, I won't trouble you or your woods anymore.”_

_“I am afraid you do not have a choice in the matter.” The eyes glow hotter. “You have damaged my dekuwood tree. Therefore you must repay your debt by becoming my new lantern-bearer.”_

_Zelda scoffs, though she scarcely feels as brave as the sound implies. “That's ridiculous. And anyway, I can't, my father will worry too much if I don't return home soon.”_

_The Beast watches her for a silent moment, and his eyes flare. “But how will you ever reach it?”_

_“What? Our house is just—”_

_He raises a hand. “You are lost, child.”_

_Zelda's body goes deathly still as his words crash down over her, all too aware of how reality has begun to unravel. The hands of the clock shudder to a stop, the world spinning backwards on its axis. Trees whirl past in a mad dance, and she can hear distant laughter carried on the wind. Dizzy and nauseated, she closes her eyes, praying for it to stop, just stop._

_When it does, when she opens her eyes..._

_She does not recognize her surroundings._

* * *

Midna gapes, her half-drunk tea all but forgotten. “Are you _serious?_ Chopping wood alone, at night?”

“I know, I know.” Zelda winces as she butters some bread. “You don't have to tell me how stupid that was. I'm well aware.”

“Too bad you weren't aware _before_ that happened,” she mutters. “So where'd you end up, anyway?”

“To be honest, I'm not really sure.” Zelda worries her lower lip between her teeth as she comes over with the bread. “I could have been in the exact same place, but I wouldn't have known it. Everything was suddenly unrecognizable to me, and I didn't know which way was home, or even how to get to your house. I wandered fruitlessly for months, my head in a fog, until suddenly my mind cleared about a week or so ago. I only just made it back last night. I don't know what happened to set me free of that spell, but I'm glad it did.”

“A week or so...” Midna says slowly. “That's... that's when the Beast died...”

“What?” Zelda almost knocks her tea cup over in her shock. “The Beast is _dead?_ But _how?_ ”

“It's... heh, kind of a long story.” Midna closes her eyes and smiles slightly. “To get to that, I have to tell you what happened to _me_ while you were lost.”

Zelda reaches over and takes Midna's hand. “I'm listening.”

“Well...” She exhales. “The morning after your poor life choice—”

“Hey! I said, I—”

Midna raises an eyebrow. “I thought you were listening?” She grins as Zelda clamps her mouth shut, glaring. “Anyway. The day after you decided to have a midnight frolic in the woods, I came over here to find your father freaking out and blaming _me_ for your disappearance, as if I hadn't warned you time and again to stay indoors at night.”

Zelda winces again. “Sorry...”

“Whatever.” Midna waves her other hand dismissively. “He ran off in search of you, and at some point the Beast conned him into being his lantern bearer, spinning this tall tale about how your soul was trapped in his lantern and the flame needed to be constantly fueled by dekuwood to be kept alive. Remember that for later.”

“I will,” Zelda says, frowning. “Though it doesn't make much sense...”

“It will later. Trust me.” Midna drains the last of her tea. “I, meanwhile, looked all over the house for you, found your sword missing and no note, and figured you'd just taken off somewhere. So I set out on a search for you that was... just as fruitless as your attempts to get home were.” She sighs. “Plus I got myself into some _really_ stupid fucking trouble too, which believe me I am already cringing at having to tell you about.”

“Really now.” Zelda props her chin on her other hand, and Midna does _not_ like the smirk forming on her face. “Do tell, my love.”

“Urgh...” Midna groans, pressing her free hand over her eyes. “Do I _have_ to?”

“Yes! It's a big part of your story, and I want to hear all of it!” Zelda squeezes her hand. “Come on, it's only fair that we both know about each others' foolish errors...”

“Fine, fine.” She sighs again. “While I was searching for you, I kind of... ran afoul of this witch named Koume.” Midna grimaces. “Came across her in the forest, and she was posing as an old beggar woman, wanting some food. I was running low, and I was really cranky, so I told her to go away. Bad idea—she transformed me into an imp.”

“An imp?” Zelda tilts her head. “You look fine now.”

“I'm getting to that.” Midna rolls her eyes. “She told me it was my punishment, but I could earn my body back by bringing her someone lost in the forest, cause she needed help around the house. Once I'd done that, she'd give me the thing I needed to change back. She was pretty damn vague about it, making it sound like she just needed someone to do chores for her, no big deal. So I agreed. It took me a few more months, but finally I found someone that seemed right. Two someones, in fact—a brother and sister.”

Zelda lifts her cup and sips her tea. “Two for the price of one?”

“Pretty much. And they seemed mostly perfect, too.” Midna's eyes grow distant, remembering. “Their names were Link and Aryll. He's... I guess just a little younger than we are, an older teenager. His little sister's like half his age, and he dotes on her. Very protective. He's not the smartest guy, but he's got a good heart, and brave when he has to be. But also a little sarcastic and stubborn. We didn't really get along at first.”

“Imagine that,” Zelda murmurs, her eyes glinting in amusement. Midna pulls a face at her.

“Whatever.” She sticks her tongue out, and Zelda laughs. “Aryll's a sweet one, though, so we hit it off. A little weird sometimes, but what kid at that age isn't?”

“Mmm.” Zelda breaks off a piece of buttered bread and pops it in her mouth. “So you took them back to Koume's?”

“... I tried to.” Midna stares down at the table. “We had a few adventures together, and it took several days, but we finally got close to Koume's house. At which point I was already kind of hesitating, you know? I'd grown to like them, and Link had just poured his heart out to me about this girl he's in love with and all his trials and tribulations with that, and even though I really wanted to get back my true form I just... I felt so bad about keeping them from getting home, even for a little while.”

“I can see that, yeah.” Zelda nods sympathetically. “So what did you do?”

“I flew off to Koume's house in the middle of the night, while they were sleeping.” Midna pulls her hand out of Zelda's grasp, dropping it and her other one into her lap. “That's when I found out she'd lied to me, she really meant to suck their brains out and hand them over to the Beast.”

“No!” Zelda gasps, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. “Midna, you didn't... please tell me you didn't...”

“Of course I didn't!” Tears prick at Midna's eyes; tears of painful recollection, and also relief that Zelda wouldn't have wanted her to hurt her friends on her behalf, just like she'd believed and hoped. “I would never have crossed that line, you know that. Link and Aryll showed up in the middle of me arguing with her, and she bound them using her magic, so I tried to get her to take me instead. When she refused, I opened the window and killed her by making her melt.” She closes her eyes, trying not to picture the aftermath again. “But Link and Aryll ran off, and I didn't know where they went. I set off to try and find them, and by the time I did, Aryll had been taken by the Beast and I was only just in time to save Link from drowning in icy water. I took him to the Great Deku Tree and left him in the care of the Koroks, and then went back out into the snowstorm to find his sister.”

“Were you able to?”

“Sort of. I found her with the Beast, and I would've called out to her, but the wind whipped up—probably his doing, come to think of it—and I got blown away, at which point I literally crashed into Link, who was up and about and had decided to follow me into a fucking blizzard to find the two of us.” Midna sighs again. “See what I mean about him being kind but dumb? Anyway, we patched things up and set off again, together this time, and found Aryll...” Her breath hitches at the memory. “Who by that time was being consumed by dekuwood. That's what that shit is, you see: it's people lost in the woods who succumb to despair or exhaustion. That's what the Beast kept his lantern lit with.”

“No...” Zelda whispers, her voice shaking. “No, that... oh, Midna, that's too horrible, I had no idea...”

“Neither did I until Link told me.” Midna blinks rapidly. “We were struggling to break poor Aryll free, when suddenly the Beast shows up, along with your father—that's how he got injured, picking a fight with that thing. He managed to halfway reveal his belief about you being trapped in the lantern before he passed out, and the Beast proceeded to try and make me and Link choose between keeping your soul there and saving Aryll's.”

“But I was never there...” Zelda shakes her head, horror filling her eyes. “The Beast was lying...”

“Yeah, and Link somehow figured that out.” Midna's smile briefly returns at the memory. “Despite being such a lunkhead he really pulled through, and clued in to the fact that it was actually the Beast's soul in the lantern. So he blew out the flame, and whoosh...” She waves her hand in the air. “No more Beast. It's obviously what set you free—the curse broke when he died.”

“And Link and Aryll?” Zelda's eyes search Midna's face. “They're fine, right?”

“Yeah, no worries.” Midna nods. “Aryll was almost broken out by that time, and that's when that petty fool decides to remember that he took the thing I needed to transform back, and had been carrying it around since he ran out of Koume's house.” She rolls her eyes again. “ _Honestly_. But, whatever, it's all good, he handed it over to me, finished breaking his sister free, and went home. I don't think they're from our world, so it's pretty unlikely we'll ever see each other again. I just hope they're doing okay.”

“I'm sure they are.” Zelda is still staring at her, concern writ large all over her lovely face. It hurts to look at. “And what about you? I hope you're not giving yourself grief over all that...”

“I'm fine.” Midna smiles, aware that it doesn't reach her eyes. “Don't worry about me.”

“Midna, I love you.” Midna sucks in her breath sharply at Zelda's words. She's heard them before, but after so long apart, it just... hits her differently than it used to. “I'm always going to worry about you. I did little else while trying to find my way back.” Zelda's eyes brim over with fresh tears. “And I am so, _so_ sorry that that happened... that you suffered so much on my behalf. How can I ever make it up to you?”

“By never leaving again,” Midna whispers, her gaze locking with Zelda's. She can feel her own tears building, an ache forming in her throat and her chest and her heart. Her very _soul_ feels wounded, and she's not sure she realized just how badly this ordeal had ripped it apart until now. Faced with Zelda's return, reliving all that she's been through in her absence, the gut-wrenching pain _of_ her absence, all she wants to do is fall weeping into her beloved's arms. It doesn't matter anymore that Zelda's mistake is what tore her up in the first place; what matters is finding comfort with her and never letting her go again. “Not without me. I can't go through that again.”

“You won't.” Zelda gets up and moves to the other side of the table, where, without resistance, she climbs onto Midna's lap and slips her arms around her neck. Midna wraps her arms around her and pulls her closer, sighing.They both close their eyes, holding each other as tears slip softly down their faces. “I need to settle in again and see to my father for a while, and after that, I don't know. I haven't decided. But I do know this: I won't do it without you. You are my heart, my light, and I don't ever want to be separated from you again.”

Midna buries her face in Zelda's neck, and it's a good minute before she finds the strength to speak. “I love you, Zelda.” She breathes shakily into her skin, and feels Zelda tremble. “Thank you... for coming home to me.”

Zelda cups Midna's face, tilting it up so she can smile through her tears at her. “I always will,” she whispers, right before kissing her.

And just like that, they're _both_ home.


End file.
